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Finnish armed forces are set to receive Spike anti-tank guided missiles in a multimillion-Euro contract.
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Spike anti-tank guided missiles will be supplied under a contract with German-Israeli Eurospike GmbH, a joint venture of Rheinmetall Electronics GmbH, Diehl Defence and Rafael.
The multi-role light guided missile system (MELLS) made by Eurospike is currently in service with the German armed forces.
MELLS is designed for engaging armoured targets at ranges of up to 4,000 metres or 5,500 metres, depending on the model. It can also be integrated into combat vehicles.
In 2022, the Commonwealth government contracted Varley Rafael Australia (VRA), a joint venture between the Varley Group and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, to deliver a tranche of Spike LR2 missile to the Australian Army.
The joint venture was tapped to deliver its missiles for integration with Boxer CRVs and the winning IFV tender under LAND 400 Phase 3.
This involves integration and acceptance testing for Army’s new Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicles (CRVs) and the future fleet of infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) as part of LAND 400 Phases 2 and 3.
VRA has also been tasked with the provision of Spike LR2 mechanical and outdoor training rounds and delivery of user training and may also support the technical certification of the Spike LR2 missile.
VRA chief executive Ben Walter has previously welcomed the Commonwealth government contract.
“This is a major milestone on our proposed roadmap to establish Spike missile manufacturing capability right here in Australia,” he said.
“It aims to facilitate the production and support capabilities of our industry partners and local supply chain and will result in the creation of new, high-technology jobs and the upskilling of Australian personnel.
“In this current political environment, a local manufacturing capability would deliver the category-superior, fifth-generation Spike LR2 missile into service faster than extant acquisition approaches.”
The Spike LR2 missile is billed as a fifth-generation, tactical precision strike weapon, leveraging two advanced warhead configurations including a tandem heart warhead with enhanced armour penetration and a multipurpose blast warhead with controlled fusing to bolster precision.
